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I recently asked about Leman Russ squadrons and found them lacking overall but what about artillery, specifically the Basilisk?
Cheaper then a Leman Russ, I feel that the increased vulnerabilities of the squadron rule matter less if you can deploy out of LOS and when your tank is armored in tinfoil to begin with. Plus the drawback of having to fire on the same target is less significant when you have an increased chance to miss or are using it against AV13/AV14.

Or am I grasping at straws here?

If I had to choose between a Leman Russ squadron and a Basilisk squadron, I'd take the Basilisk squadron for the reasons you lifted above. You're already fragile, but you can deploy out of-LOS. The only thing you're losing is the flexibility to fire at multiple targets, which is big enough that I'd try to avoid squadroning whenever possible. However, I would be much more willing to squadron Basilisks.

I'm not convinced Basilisks are a sound investment they're a major targe, they're weak and have 36" limited range of indirect fire. People will either hug your army and/or hide in cover and/or they'll send something over to take care of them. I'd take a lone Battle Tank over them everytime.

If that indirect range was 24" i'd probably give 'em a chance but 36" seems too far in my opinion.

Peace Out!
Jonny!

i will run a squadron of bassilisks in large point games. however, you should give them cammo netting if you have the points to spare. In addition, it never hurst to spread a couple of chaep infantry squads around them to prevent outflanking units to assault them.

martin74 wrote:i will run a squadron of bassilisks in large point games. however, you should give them cammo netting if you have the points to spare. In addition, it never hurst to spread a couple of chaep infantry squads around them to prevent outflanking units to assault them.

Good points. Makes it a littleless of a risk to move out to get line of sight too.

it doesnt hurt to invest 100 points (2 infantry squads) to keep your 375 + points protected.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
another good point of the squadron bassilisk is that your opponent will usualy make it a high priority to get to them or under the minimum range. thats when you have a thirty man blob squad (w/ commissar) there to perform the old first rank fire/second rank fire to chew them up.

RubberJonny wrote:I'm not convinced Basilisks are a sound investment they're a major targe, they're weak and have 36" limited range of indirect fire. People will either hug your army and/or hide in cover and/or they'll send something over to take care of them. I'd take a lone Battle Tank over them everytime.

If they';re hiding in cover, that's perfect, indirect fire ignored cover saves caused by LOS blockage. Basilisks force your opponents to make decisions they'd rather not make, in that if they try and hold back from your army to avoid your powerblobs, they'll be pounded by the heavy artillery.

I haven't tried it, but I planned out an army with various squads supporting the basilisk as a secondary role. I have a lr demolisher, a basilisk and a ccs with a master of ordnance and a misssile launcher. Both the basilisk and the ccs have camo cloaks/nets. My plan is to deploy the ccs and basilisk in cover, where the camo will protect them. The lr demolisher is deployed around 12" from them. If enemy units try to get within the minimum range of the basilisk, they get pounded by the lrd. IF anyone deepstrikes, ( thinking about my friend's deffcopters...) they will get taught a lesson br the lrd and the missile launcher in the ccs. All the while, the enemy is getting pounded by the basilisk and the master of ordnance. If I want to expand my army, I could add more basilisks, or more lrds. IF the whole enemy force makes a concerted effort against the lrd, my bane wolf and sentinels will storm the enemy force, closely followed by the swamp of infantry.

I think the trip bassie squadron is something you need to build a good portion of your army around. I like the idea of camo netting to keep them safe, but you also need to make sure you get cover from the sides, which suggests chimeras guarding the flanks. That being said, a chimera with plasma vets with a heavy weapon makes a pretty decent firebase/counter attacking unit to give some shade to the big guns.

I'm thinking of alternatives to the standard 2x Manticores that seem to be the IG standard and at the moment Basilisk and LRBT squadrons seem to be the best options.

2x Basilisks will be 90 points more expensive, have the same average # of shots (ordnance) have -1S +1AP then a single Manticore
2x LRBT will be 140 points more expensive, have the same average # of shots (ordnance) have -2 +1AP but be AV14/13

I think the 2x Basilisks could work if you really value that AP3 as it will make a big difference against Marines and most MCs and the S9 vs S10 won't make a difference in the vast majority of those situations. The biggest drawback is probably the 90 extra points as thats almost 2 extra Chimera.

The 2x LRBT might just be too different to compare effectively to a Manticore though.

LRBT squadrons have the added benefit of the 'cumbersome' rule.

2x basilisks will get two ordnance shots with a nice 2D6 scatter. If you fire indirectly and hit then you hit, but if you don't have LoS you can't deduct the BS of the crew from the scatter. If you fire directly you roll 1D6 scatter.

2x LRBT's will have two ordnance shots, if they sit still you have to fire directly so its 1D6 scatter minus the BS.

The thing with the LRBT's though is that if it sits still you can fire the ordnance weapon plus all of your other weapons.

ChrisWWII wrote:If they're hiding in cover, that's perfect, indirect fire ignores cover saves...

Cover saves can still be claimed if the center of the Barrage fired blast template is on the other side of the terrain to the models and this has no effect in area terrain.

halonachos wrote:2x basilisks will get two ordnance shots with a nice 2D6 scatter. If you fire indirectly and hit then you hit, but if you don't have LoS you can't deduct the BS of the crew from the scatter. If you fire directly you roll 1D6 scatter.

All blast weapons scatter 2D6 unless stated otherwise in their profile.

Peace!

Uh...halo? No offense, but I think you're reading an old rulebook. Basilisks firing indirectly scatter 2d6, and don't minus their ballistic skill if they scatter. Leman Russes will still scatter the 2d6, but since they have to have LoS they'll be able to minus their bS from the scatter roll.

The only special rule Lemans have is Lumbering Behemoth...they can move 6" and fire their turret weapon, and one other weapon, or move 6+d6 inches instead.

RubberJonny wrote:

halonachos wrote:2x basilisks will get two ordnance shots with a nice 2D6 scatter. If you fire indirectly and hit then you hit, but if you don't have LoS you can't deduct the BS of the crew from the scatter. If you fire directly you roll 1D6 scatter.

All blast weapons scatter 2D6 unless stated otherwise in their profile.

ChrisWWII wrote:Uh...halo? No offense, but I think you're reading an old rulebook. Basilisks firing indirectly scatter 2d6, and don't minus their ballistic skill if they scatter.

If basilisks have LOS they can still take their BS away from the scatter distance. It doesn't matter which mode they are firing in. I don't know where the 1d6 came from. You get 2d6 scatter for any blast weapons, -BS if you have LOS*.

*Apart from exceptions, such as the MoO, of course.

Basilisks are also opened topped, combined with the increased vulnerability to immobilized results from squadroning means that 1/3rd of glancing hits are killers, while 5/6 penetrating hits are killers. In the armies I usually play, getting S10 from the Manticore is huge. 3+ armor isn't even that hard to kill with the number of hits IG can put on stuff, so there's not much of a question for me.